This archive report was first published on 4 October 2021.
Located in West Africa, the region of Niger shares a border with the tri-border area, where Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali meet. This volatile zone has been plagued by jihadist violence since 2017.
According to a UN report, nearly 600,000 people in Niger are at risk of food insecurity due to the actions of non-state armed groups. The UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs office warned that 'insecurity and recurrent attacks targeting farmers and civilians will have serious repercussions this year on the already precarious food situation.'
As a result, nearly 600,000 people are at risk of food insecurity, with the agency citing the abandonment of crop fields and difficulties in accessing markets as contributing factors. Hadjia Sibti, president of the Association of Women of Anzourou, a town often targeted by attacks, shared her harrowing experience, saying 'those who dared to go to the fields were killed, they track us down in our huts and even in the mosques.'
The UN also expressed concern about the situation in the department of Banibangou, where over 79,000 people are likely to run out of food. Between June and August 2021, several dozen farmers in Banibangou were brutally murdered by non-state armed groups, forcing the population to abandon their fields.
As of 31 August 2021, 765,348 people had received humanitarian assistance in the Tillaberi region, which is also home to 101,144 internally displaced persons. However, the UN fears a major food crisis in this region and has called on the government and its partners to take strong measures to address the situation.
